About

The 4th Monkey: An Anthology for Awareness

$8,085

pledged of $7,500 goal

267

backers

We thought hard about the different stretch goals we could add and, in the end, thought what could be better than more comics centered around our central theme - raising awareness for the topics chosen by the creators!! Check out what, with your help, we can add to the entire book!

The 4th Monkey is a comic book anthology featuring stories to raise awareness about environmental and social issues. Brought to life by 20+ comic book creators, each team will be creating a story about something that is near and dear to their hearts... or just something that's been bothering them. The 100 page book will feature 8 short stories revolving around the following topics: Online Bullying. Poaching. Political Polarization. Mental Abuse. Ocean Pollution. Pesticides. Alcoholism. Suicide.

There are A LOT of problems in the world, and we can’t possibly tackle them all. The 4th Monkeyis our attempt to do something about the ones pulled right out of the hearts of the contributing creators. Sure, you may feel stronger about some than you do others, but the quickest way to someone’s heart is through story. So, if you finish this book with even the slightest thirst for more knowledge, or were simply entertained, then I like to think that we did our job.

Myself and Co-Creator/Writer, Daniel Farrand, have personally funded much of the artwork you'll see on this page in order to bring you the best possible preview to the anthology and to show how dedicated we are to making this book a reality. With this Kickstarter we're looking to fund the completion of the artwork and a print run in order to get the book into the hands of backers and fellow creators.

Cover Art by Jose Johann Jaro - Logo by Kenneth Matthews

But... The 4th Monkey? What does that even mean?

Playing on the 3 Mystic Monkeys proverb, “See No Evil - Hear No Evil - Speak No Evil”, The 4th Monkey is one who is not blinded. It is aware and wants the world to take notice, before it's too late.

***The "yes, we know all primates aren't monkeys" disclaimer***When the 3 Wise Monkeys proverb originated, there was no distinction between apes and monkeys - hence much of the past (and current) artwork done as chimps. Scroll down further - we even have gorillas!

We need to all come together... right now... over this Abbey Road inspired pin-up by Salomon Farias!

THE STORIES!

Due to the heavy subject matter of some of the stories, the tones range from serious, to sad, and even funny. There's action, drama, hijinks, and even super heroes. We're hoping that every story locks you in and takes you for a completely different ride from the next.

Now, without further ado, here's a 1 page preview from each of the current stories featured in The 4th Monkey. Every story is lettered by the great and powerul HDE.

The Rewards! (Add-Ons available below)

New commission added!

The legendary John McCrea (Hitman - DC Comics. Judge Dredd - 2000 AD. Mythic - Image Comics) will draw a bust shot of the character of your choosing on A4 paper with a splash of color.

New Limited Commission Rewards Added!

Sooo the artists working on this project are AMAZING!
After speaking to most of the creators during our first week here on Kickstarter we've gotten an overwhelming response from the artists involved. Many of them want to donate a "Commission Reward" to the project!So, with the below artists all able to do ONE physical commission each to help support the project and push us closer to our goal (aside from Ed Jimenez who will be doing 5 digital headshots - so get ready to upgrade your online avatar!) we're able to offer YOU commission rewards from these amazing artists at a VERY reduced rate.

BUDGET

We are asking for $7,500 in order to fund the completion of the artwork and a print run to get copies of the anthology into the hands of backers and the featured creators.

In order to keep our goal as low as possible, Co-Creator Daniel Farrand and I are personally funding the packaging and Kickstarter fee costs.

Risks and challenges

When working with this many people, unfortunately, things can happen. However, working on this project with many seasoned Kickstarter users, we forsee things going smootlhy.

Luckily for us, aside from "acts of god", every creator is fully committed to completing their parts by the deadline, allowing for the book to go out to the printer and make it into your hands during the promised month.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $60 or more
About $60

Physical Reward 5 - Creator Connection

Along with a copy of The 4th Monkey you'll get a Skype discussion and email exchanges with
James E. Roche and Daniel Farrand regarding
anything involved with making comics.

I don't want to put a time limit on any of this.
Let's talk about anything you want:
a full issue script analysis of your story,
marketing, planning your Kickstarter, pitching,
press, starting from scratch... anything you'd like.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $65 or more
About $65

Physical Reward - Sketch Cards & Comics

Along with a copy of The 4th Monkey you'll get the Sketch Card print set AND FOUR MORE COMICS, each written by the Anthologies co-creators, James E. Roche and Daniel Farrand: Wretches #1-2 &Untold #1-2.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $200 or more
About $200

Cameo - Online Bullying Story

There are very limited cameo spots available in any of the stories. In fact, there's only one - this one.
Be drawn into the story 'Social Consequences' by it's artist James Erik Hodson, and appear on multiple pages as a member of the jury.